Google and watchmaker Fossil Group today jointly announced a $40 million deal that will see the search giant take ownership of a portion of Fossil’s smartwatch technology.

Fossil Sport smartwatch The deal, which is being described as „transactional“ and will see some of Fossil’s R&D division join Google, will lead to the launch of a „new product innovation that’s not yet hit the market,“ said Fossil VP and chief strategy officer Greg McKelvey.

Speaking to Wearable, McKelvey said the new product is based on technology that Fossil has been developing out of its $260 million Misfit acquisition in 2015. [...]

Apple must pay VirnetX $440 million after an appeals court upheld an earlier judgement in favor of the patent holding company, reports Reuters.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit today denied Apple’s appeal of a 2016 verdict that awarded VirnetX $302 million, which increased to $439.7 million when taking into account damages and interest calculated during retrials.

VirnetX first sued Apple in 2010, accusing FaceTime of infringing on patents held by VirnetX. The two companies have been fighting in court since then, and Apple in 2017 said it would appeal the final $440 million judgement.

In a separate case that is also [...]

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15. Januar 2019

Apple Replaced 11 Million iPhone Batteries in 2018, Up From 1 to 2 Million

Apple replaced a total of 11 million iPhone batteries under the $29 battery replacement program that was introduced at the end of 2017 and ran through 2018 before ending on December 31, 2018.

The tidbit was shared by Tim Cook at a recent all-hands meeting with Apple employees and relayed by Daring Fireball’s John Gruber, who heard the information from an unnamed source.

Apple replaced approximately 9 to 10 million more batteries than it would have during a normal year, said Cook. Apple normally replaces 1 to 2 million batteries each year.

Cook cited the battery replacement program as one of the reasons why Apple’s Q1 2019 guidance was cut [...]

Apple CEO Tim Cook earned more than $15 million in salary in 2018 according to the 2018 proxy statement Apple filed with the SEC today.

Cook earned a base salary of $3 million along with $12 million in incentives awarded for performance-based reasons, and another $682,000 in unspecified „Other Compensation.“ Cook earned a total of $3 million more than he did in 2017.

Cook’s listed salary does not include stock awards that he received in 2018, and when taking that into account, he earned an additional $121 million. In the future, Cook is set to receive stock worth upwards of $189 million as shares vest.